Colorful Jaybirds

Blue Jay: Cyanocitta cristata

Sharing with Saturday's Critters and The Bird D'Pot

Sculpture in Sepia

Sharing with Sepia Saturday

Leftover Skies

Since I carry my camera with me most of the time, I take more photos than I post. I decided to catch up on some sky shots from December, which was a busy month as far as photos.

Let's start with some pictures of Strasburg (Virginia) and end with a couple of shots I took in Winchester.

Sharing with Orange You Glad It's Friday and Skywatch Friday

and Look Up, Look Down

Long Ears over the Gate

I believe this fine animal is a mule, but if it is a horse and feels offended by this, I apologize! We see plenty of equines here in the Shenandoah Valley so by now, I should be able to tell which is which.

Sharing with Thoughtless Thursday and Camera Critters

Artful Nostalgia

I glimpsed this place one day just before dark and decided to go back on a sunny day to get a better look. Isn't it cute? Someone has fixed it up to look like an old-time store and they even decorated the mailbox!

Note the split-rail fence and the windmill and (below) the signs and antique gas pump.

Nearby is a log building with a small mill wheel. All this is on a country road not far from the commuter parking lot near Strasburg.

Sharing with Good Fences and Signs, Signs

Chickadee and Woodpecker

Sharing with Wild Bird Wednesday

and Black and White Wednesday

Wordless Cat

Sharing with Wordless Wednesday

and
Wordless Wednesday Blog Paws

Today Our View was Frosted with Snow

Sharing with Our World Tuesday

and Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday

Two Views of a Barn

Moose Road in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia

A Main Street Mural

Stanley, Virginia

When I saw this mural mentioned in Shenandoah Living, I knew I wanted to see it. They mentioned it was next to a bank; turns out it is painted on the side wall of the police station!

The blue car is part of the painting but the white police car is not. However, a sign that's part of the painting says "No Parking. Police Cars."

I just came across a photograph by Winston Link which I believe is the inspiration for this painting.

I had to walk around a bit to get a view of the right side of the mural because a truck was parked there. "Burns Restaurant" is also shown in Mr. Link's photograph. Here in Virginia we sometimes see prints of his dramatic railroad photos displayed in shops and galleries.

Sharing with Monday Murals

Ice on the River

Shenandoah River, January

Sharing with Black and White Weekend

Open Arms Church

In Page County, Virginia

Sharing with InSPIREd Sunday

Nice Weather If You're a Canada Goose

Branta Canadensis

The Canada Goose is supposed to be a migratory species, spending the summer in places colder than here, like Canada, and migrating southward during the winter. We do see large numbers of them migrating, flying in to our lake in Virginia on their way south. But we also have large extended families of them as permanent residents here. They find enough to eat and just stay! It does get very cold here but they don't seem to mind.

Sharing with: Sepia Saturday and Saturday's Critters

Winchester Hard and Soft

Trex Factory, Winchester, VA

Scarves in a Shop

Sharing with Skywatch Friday 

and Orange You Glad It's Friday

Who Wants a Treat?

Sharing with Thoughtless Thursday and Little Things Thursday

Signs and Fences, Carson Trail

The William E. Carson Trail begins at the Front Royal Golf Club at the end of Country Club Road. It offers views of the Shenandoah River, crosses part of the golf course, goes up a steep hill and through the woods, eventually coming out at Rockland Park, which is still being developed. See our earlier post on the Carson Trail.

The No Fishing sign is bilingual plus it has a symbol, which looks to me like it's telling fish not to bite the hook!

In the distance we see the new Dominion Power plant that I showed yesterday from the other side. It went operational last month.

This is a nice trail but there are two warnings on the sign that you need to take seriously. One is to stay away if the river is flooding (duh!), and the other is to watch for golfers. You don't want to get hit by a stray golf ball!

Sharing with Signs, Signs

and Good Fences

New Power Plant, Front Royal

Sharing with Black & White Wednesday and Wordless Wednesday

Who Do We Appreciate?

It's Squirrel Appreciation Day!

Sharing with Camera Critters 

Two Barns and a Mill

Page County, Virginia

Grandview Farm

We don't see many blue barns so I wanted to take a picture of this one. The very next day we went to an art gallery and saw an artist's statement saying he normally avoided painting red barns! Apparently he feels they are a cliché. Well, some folks say sunset pictures are a cliché too, but that doesn't stop most of use from taking their picture. If nothing else, we want to share their beauty with our friends. 

And so, without apology, my next barn is red. And white too. I like it! And for good measure, I'm posting a red mill. 

Willow Grove Mill is just outside the city of Luray. A Civil War Trails Marker tells us that it was burnt in 1864, as Union forces swept through the Shenandoah Valley burning crops and other resources that could be used to feed the Confederate Army. 

View from the Mill

Sharing with The Barn Collective and Our World Tuesday

Civil War Mural at Hupp's Hill

Strasburg, Virginia

Inside the museum at Hupp's Hill Civil War Park there's a long mural that tells the story of the American Civil War. The mural was originally commissioned by banker and preservationist Leo Bernstein when the museum was called the Stonewall Jackson Museum. It was completed in a short period of time by artists Chris Wilson and France Coates in 1991.

Several years after Mr. Bernstein's death in 2008, this property become a combination tourist information center and a museum run by the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation.

Sharing with Monday Murals